The depot shown in the 1886 view above was built in 1845. The arrival of the first train from Detroit on October 17, 1839, assured Ann Arbor's future as a center for commerce and education. A grand celebration began at the original depot and ended at the county courthouse. By 1841 the first students at the University of Michigan could arrive by train from Detroit or Jackson. The Michigan Central Railroad reached Chicago in 1852.

This 1886 depot, built for the Michigan Central Railroad in grand Richardsonian Romanesque style, was the gateway to Ann Arbor at a time when trains were the major means of intercity travel. The central building had ornate waiting rooms, an elaborate ticket booth, coffered wood ceilings, stained glass windows, and a large terra-cotta fireplace. Packages were shipped from the express office on the west. Trunks and other luggagewere checked and retrieved at a baggage building on the east. A long track side roof sheltered passengers and connected the three buildings. East of the station, a garden with a fountain greeted visitors.

Enthusiastic crowds came to see presidents, prominent politicians, and visiting dignitaries, some of whom spoke from the rear platform of the train. A few, such as pianist Ignace Paderewski, arrived with private railway cars. Patriotic fanfare and emotional farewells sent troops off to war. UM football teams departed and returned to mobs of cheering fans.

From the hill above Plank Road in the 1870s (North Main Street today), you could look back toward where you are now standing and view sources of Ann Arbor's early power and transportation. In the panorama, find your location, along with the dam, the millpond, and the millrace. Beginning in 1830, they supplied power for Lower Town’s mills. Sinclair’s Mill stood to your right.

After 1839, when the railroad reached Ann Arbor from Detroit, paper, wool, flour, and feed from the mills, as well as livestock held in pens in the foreground,could be shipped to eastern markets. Coal arrived by rail for the Ann Arbor Gas Company, which built its first works in 1858 across from the old depot. Lumber arrived for Selleck Wood’s and other lumberyards and planing mills nearby.